Andy Williams' Greatest Hits | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | 1970 | |||
Recorded | 1958 [1] 1962−1969 [2] [3] | |||
Genre |
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Length | 30:04 | |||
Label | Columbia KCS 9979 | |||
Andy Williams chronology | ||||
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Alternate cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [4] |
Billboard | Spotlight Pick [5] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [6] |
Andy Williams' Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in early 1970 by Columbia Records. [5] It was not, however, as its title might suggest, strictly a hit singles compilation, although some of his biggest songs since joining Columbia (such as the easy listening number ones "Can't Get Used to Losing You" and "Happy Heart") were included. A couple of selections ("Born Free" and "More") were never released as singles by Williams, and his signature song, "Moon River", was released in the 7-inch single format but only for jukeboxes. [7] His six Cadence singles that made the Top 10 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 are passed over for the inclusion of his number 11 hit from that label, "The Hawaiian Wedding Song", and 17 of his Columbia recordings that made the Hot 100 up until 1970 are left out here in favor of "Charade", which spent its one week on the chart at number 100. [8]
The most noticeable change that was made for the UK release of the album was the replacement of the cover sketch with the photo of Williams found in the gatefold section of the album jacket of the US release. The other major difference was that Williams's recording of "Can't Take My Eyes off You" was added to the track list for the UK version.
The album made its first appearance on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the issue dated March 7, 1970, and remained there for 20 weeks, peaking at number 42. [9] it also debuted on the Cashbox albums chart in the issue dated February 21, of that year, and remained on the chart for 14 weeks, peaking at number 30 [10] In the UK it debuted on the album chart on April 11 of that year in the number two position out of 55 albums listed that week and eventually had five appearances at number one there out of a total of 108 weeks on the chart. [11] The Recording Industry Association of America awarded the album Gold certification on September 13, 1971. [12]
The US version of the album was released on compact disc for the first time by Columbia Records in 1988. [4] A Columbia three-CD box set including this version of the album along with the US versions of Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 and his 1971 album Love Story was released on August 12, 1997. [13]
Robert Taylor of Allmusic's notes "This a fine representation of some of Andy Williams' most beloved hits and yet another of his gold recordings" [4]
In their capsule review, Billboard magazine wrote, "Superb program and performances." [5]
For the UK version of this collection, "Can't Take My Eyes off You" (from the 1967 album Love, Andy ) was inserted between "Almost There" and "Charade", but the track listing for the UK version was otherwise identical to that of the North American release. [21]
Chart | Debut date | Peak position |
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Billboard Top LP's [9] | March 7, 1970 | 42 |
UK Albums Chart [22] | April 11, 1970 | 1 |
Moon River: The Very Best of Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released on October 13, 2009. A note from Williams inside the CD booklet explains that the album "was put together to coincide with my memoir Moon River and Me, published by Viking/Penguin. It includes many of the songs that you made hits. I truly appreciate that, and I hope you enjoy the songs we selected for this CD." The collection covers a wide assortment of his material, including crossover hits, stabs at the youth market, a pair of Mancini-Mercer Oscar winners, a Christmas classic, and a eulogy to Robert F. Kennedy.
Moon River and Other Great Movie Themes is the ninth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams. It was released on March 26, 1962, by Columbia Records and covered film songs that were mostly from the previous decade.
Warm and Willing is the tenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in 1962 by Columbia Records. Allmusic's William Ruhlmann explained that Williams and producer Robert Mersey "followed the Sinatra concept-album formula of creating a consistent mood, in this case a romantic one, and picking material mostly from the Great American Songbook of compositions written for Broadway musicals in the 1920s and '30s by the likes of George and Ira Gershwin, then giving them slow, string-filled arrangements over which Williams could croon in his breathy, intimate tenor voice."
The Academy Award-Winning "Call Me Irresponsible" and Other Hit Songs from the Movies is the fourteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1964 by Columbia Records. Williams had already had great success with his albums named after Henry Mancini's Oscar winners from 1961 and 1962, "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses", and was asked to sing Mancini and Johnny Mercer's title song collaboration from the 1963 film Charade at the Academy Awards on April 13, 1964, after it was nominated for Best Original Song, but the winner that year was the other song that Williams performed at the ceremony, "Call Me Irresponsible".
Andy Williams' Dear Heart is the sixteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in the spring of 1965 by Columbia Records and was the last of his Columbia releases that remained exclusively within the realm of traditional pop. After covering two Beatles hits on his next non-holiday studio album, The Shadow of Your Smile, he would try out samba music on In the Arms of Love, aim for a much younger crowd with "Music to Watch Girls By" on Born Free, and focus more on contemporary material on subsequent albums.
The Shadow of Your Smile is the eighteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released in April 1966 by Columbia Records and included covers of "Michelle" and "Yesterday", the same pair of Beatles ballads that labelmate Johnny Mathis recorded for his 1966 album of the same name. For Williams these selections initiated a trend away from the traditional pop formula that his album output at Columbia up until this point had adhered to.
In the Arms of Love is the nineteenth studio album by American pop singer Andy Williams and was released on December 19, 1966, by Columbia Records and was the last of twelve consecutive Williams studio LPs produced by Robert Mersey.
Love Is Blue is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on March 6, 1968, by Columbia Records and adhered even more strictly to the concept of the "cover" album of recent hits than its predecessor in that five of the 10 songs selected for the project were chart hits for the original artists within the previous year and another three had charted within the previous decade. Even the two remaining selections that did not bring chart success to the original artists were by the hit songwriting teams of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and John Lennon and Paul McCartney and left no room for the usual inclusion of some original songs or material from Broadway.
Johnny Mathis Sings the Music of Bacharach & Kaempfert is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the fall of 1970 by Columbia Records. While one half of the two-record set was a compilation of tracks from his previous albums that were composed by Burt Bacharach, the other consisted of new recordings of songs composed by Bert Kaempfert, including a new version of "Strangers in the Night", which Mathis had already recorded in 1966 for his LP Johnny Mathis Sings. Although the Kaempfert tribute was similar to recent Mathis albums in that he was mainly covering songs made popular by other singers, it was absent of hits from the 12 months previous to its release that had become the pattern of his output at this point. The latest US chartings of any of the Kaempfert compositions as of this album's debut came from 1967 recordings of "Lady" by Jack Jones and "The Lady Smiles" by Matt Monro.
Love Story is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on February 10, 1971, by Columbia Records and included a recent Oscar nominee, a flashback to 1967 ("Traces"), a new song by Bacharach & David, a lesser-known one by Goffin & King, and two songs that originated in film scores from 1970 and had lyrics added later: the album closer, "Loss of Love", from Sunflower and the album opener from Love Story, which was subtitled "Where Do I Begin". The norm for Mathis projects from this era was to cover recent hits, and the title track of this one was so recent that the version by Andy Williams began a 13-week run to number nine on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart in February 1971, coinciding with the release of this LP.
Andy Williams' Newest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released early in 1966 by Columbia Records and was the first LP to compile the singer's Columbia material. Seven of the 12 tracks had reached the charts in Billboard magazine, and another had been released as a single in the UK. Three album cuts were also included along with a recent B-side.
Andy Williams' Greatest Hits Vol. 2 is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in June 1973 by Columbia Records. This collection follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, Andy Williams' Greatest Hits, in that it is not limited to his biggest and most recent hit singles, although his final two US Top 40 entries were included. It also has an album track not released as a single, a couple of hits from his time with Cadence Records, two other singles that could have been included on the first volume, and two Easy Listening chart entries that never made the Billboard Hot 100.
Reflections is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK on December 30, 1977, by the CBS Records division of Columbia. The subtitle on the cover reads, "A collection of 20 of my favorite songs", and a statement from Williams in the liner notes says, "Songs have very special memories for all of us. They pinpoint moments in our time. On this album I have chosen 20 songs that do just that. I hope you like them." While there was one new song ("Sad"), the collection was otherwise a balanced mix of album cuts and chart hits from his years with Columbia Records, including the seven top 10 UK singles he'd had during this period.
The Very Best of Andy Williams is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released in the UK on October 5, 2009. A note from Williams inside the CD booklet explains that the album "was put together to coincide with my memoir Moon River and Me, published by Orion Press. It includes many of the songs that you made hits. I truly appreciate that, and I hope you enjoy the songs we selected for this CD." This compilation includes recordings that either charted in the UK but not in the US or charted much higher on the UK singles chart than they did on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It entered the UK albums chart on October 17, 2009, and reached number 10 during its six weeks there.
Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis is the fourth Christmas album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on September 23, 1986, by Columbia Records. This was Mathis's fourth holiday-themed LP and focused exclusively on secular material.
Greatest Hits is a live album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was digitally recorded live in concert at the Andy Williams Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri and released by the LaserLight division of Delta Music Inc. in 1994. It includes performances of songs that he had previously recorded during his time with the Cadence and Columbia labels as well as one he had never recorded before -- "L-O-V-E", which Nat King Cole took to number 81 pop and number 17 Easy Listening in Billboard magazine in 1964.
Johnny Mathis' All-Time Greatest Hits is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in the spring of 1972 by Columbia Records and, despite its title, overlooks a good number of his Top 40 hits in favor of his singles that did not make the Billboard Hot 100 and album tracks that were not released as singles.
Feelings is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released on October 20, 1975, by Columbia Records and strayed slightly from the singer's usual practice of covering hits by other artists by including two new songs, both written by Jerry Fuller: "Hurry Mother Nature" and "That's All She Wrote", which Ray Price took to number 34 on the Country chart the following spring.
The First 25 Years – The Silver Anniversary Album is a compilation album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis that was released in 1981 by Columbia Records. The back cover of the album notes that there are four new tracks. A cover of the Commodores hit "Three Times a Lady" had been released on the UK version of his 1980 album Different Kinda Different, which was retitled All for You, but the Mathis rendition of the song makes its US debut here.
16 Most Requested Songs: Encore! is a compilation album by American pop singer Andy Williams that was released by Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings on May 16, 1995.